The Temporal Knights

by Richard D. Parker

  “Easy...easy,” he said softly as they spun and floated up and hit the ceiling once again. This time her back hit flat against it with his body directly below hers. He grabbed two of the hand holds put there for freefall and effectively pinned her against the ceiling.

  “Your muscles don’t have to fight the force of the Earth anymore. The smallest movement will send you across the room,” he said his face and body pressing lightly against her own. She smiled and nodded, then suddenly became aware of their very close proximity and blushed.

  “Relax your muscles,” he said again and turned her slowly around so that they were right side up again. “Relax,” he repeated, and she blinked and he felt her arms go limp.

  “Don’t move,” he added and gave her just the slightest push, and like a soft breeze they began to float away from one another, Flæd giggling and laughing like a young girl. Peebles looked down and saw that King Alfred had figured out what the handles on the ceiling, walls and floor were for and he was pulling himself along effortlessly, his Queen was hanging on to his shoulders and laughing joyfully. They floated into the far room just as Captain Giles and Giffu drifted up the tube stairway. Flæd smiled, hit a side wall and pushed off very gently in the direction of her sister. The two women laughed happily as they closed on one another hugging and spinning. Both Peebles and Murphy were struck by how similar the two women looked. They were obviously sisters, same black hair; same dark prominent eyebrows over brown sparkling eyes; same sharp nose and wide mouth. Either man would have been hard pressed to declare which one was lovelier. The General took a moment to find his own equilibrium, did a quick somersault that made Flæd laugh again and then pushed himself toward Murphy.

  But the Captain was a true zero gravity virtuosos and was soon bouncing and spinning off the walls with an uncommon grace. He moved about effortlessly, in complete control in an uncontrolled environment. The women watched his antics with wonder and hooted with appreciation at some of his more impressive tricks. Sir Wulfhere guffawed and tried to imitate some of the easier moves and was soon careening around the room utterly out of control. The girl’s applause and peals of laughter soon attracted the King and Queen and they floated in together serenely.

  Alfred, still utilizing the handholds stopped so quickly that his wife nearly flew on by but she grabbed at his waist and finally caught hold of his hair before she finally halted her momentum.

  “Ow woman!” Alfred bellowed but then began to laugh with the others. They floated and played, twirled and flipped and the hour was over far too fast for any of them.

  “Artificial gravity will activate in two minutes,” Matt announced over the loudspeakers. He did not join the others in freefall. He was not yet so comfortable with the ship to leave it unsupervised, and the Lady Ellyn was content to remain with him.

  “Prepare yourselves,” Murphy said and showed them how to use the handholds on ceiling to right themselves, and get their feet pointing to the floor. The effects of the gravitational field were light at first, but gradually grew stronger, pulling them gently to the floor. It reached its peak at six-tenths that of Earth’s, comfortable enough to move around in, but they all had to walk with care so as not to leap from the floor and bang their heads against the low ceiling. The group experimented with the light gravity for several moments. The General tried to impress everyone by lifting Sir Wulfhere off the ground with one hand, but it paled next to the miraculous feat of flying.

  “Return to stations,” Major Thane said, disappointed that he did not get to share the joys of weightlessness with Ellyn, but he supposed there would be time on the seven hour trip to the moon. “Acceleration begins in five minutes,” he reported and they all made their way quickly to their seats.

  “We’re ready here,” the General said after everyone was secured. Matt glanced back at Ellyn and Æthelgifu and they both nodded, fully buckled in.

  “Five, four, three, two, one...ignition,” Murphy announced over the intercom and the engines fired right on time. The feeling of acceleration was strong, but not nearly so as when they’d left the Earth’s surface. It lasted approximately five minutes then shut off. Matt flipped a few switches then stood up. The ship’s computers, infinitely more powerful than those primitive models that first took man to the moon, would warn him well before the next burn was scheduled, and actually now, they were more pilot than he.

  “Come,” he said to Ellyn, who smiled up at him. “The engines won’t fire again for almost an hour. Let’s have a drink.”

  “I could use a cold one,” Murphy said escorting Giffu out of her seat and up the stairs, fantasizing about a beer, but knowing he would only be getting ice water.

  Once top side they all stood about, drinking and eating a bit of cheese and crackers with the rest.

  “The trip to the moon will take about seven hours,” Matt informed them, “far less than the three days the Apollo missions took to complete the journey, and roughly half the time of the Armstrong shuttle.”

  The General nodded but the rest of them either sat around the table or stood by the bar not saying anything, just looking out at the moon.

  “How long before deceleration?” Peebles asked.

  “We should be able to accelerate for nearly sixty percent of the trip then cruise another twenty before beginning our deceleration during the last fifth. The Skawp engines are much more efficient than what we could build. They sure have engine technology all figured out.”

  “Let’s hope that’s all they have,” Peebles countered, knowing most of this was going over the heads of their guests, but they didn’t seem to mind, and each appeared to have relaxed a bit after the exciting lift off.

  Matt took Ellyn by the hand and led her over to the couch where they sat next to each other, and soon everyone drifted into the living area, though there were only enough places for five of them to sit. Giles, Sir Wulfhere, Giffu and Flæd all found places on the floor and the locals did not mind at all, showing both appreciation and fascination with the carpeting. They sat and talked for a while, and eventually all had to try out the bathroom and after the fourth engine burn, Murphy activated the large screen on the opposite side of the couch and started the classic, Gone with the Wind, for them. At first everyone but the Lady Ellyn was confused and astounded, but as soon as it was made clear that these were only players displayed for them, they settled down. They were soon engrossed with the tale, though they could not follow all that was happening. The movie was long and took up much of the flight time, especially since there were several interruptions in order to power up the engines. The ending however, did not quite have the same dramatic effect on the audience that the director originally intended, but they all were entertained, and Alfred asked numerous questions about the American Civil War and the men who fought in it after the movie was over.

  “Deceleration to begin in five minutes,” Murphy reported from his station.

  Everyone quickly returned to their seats and when the moon suddenly filled the viewing windows with its silvery rough, alien terrain, everyone gasped, included General Peebles.

  “Wondrous!” Alfred and Ealhswith exclaimed at the very same moment, utterly captivated. Wulfhere remained quiet, his mouth hanging slightly ajar and General Peebles was acutely aware of Flæd’s breathing, which was fast and shallow and strangely erotic to the General. They were still almost an hour out of moon orbit when Matt informed them that they would have to spend much of the remainder of the flight in their seats. No one complained, or even talked very much, instead they silently watched the planetary object they all knew best, become steadily larger and stranger.

  They spent the next hour gazing at the growing moon. No one aboard had ever been this close to Earth’s satellite. Of course the Major had been in space numerous times, and was on the list of possible pilots for the Armstrong shuttle, which ferried equipment to the moon for the eventual base that was due to be constructed during the next decade. The base, which was designed to catapult Man to the farthest reache
s of the solar system, was still several years off when the Skawps attacked, thus ending the dreams of mankind.

  The craters and mountains of the moon filled the forward windows magnificently as they finally reached orbit. The surface was a myriad of light colored rock and dust against dark shadows. There were mountains, valleys, craters, and plains, but nothing at all living, and nothing to give it any scale. The alien landscape however, held them all captive with its stark beauty.

  “Proceed to the far side as planned Major,” Peebles said and Matt followed the flight mission and the ship looped about to the moon’s dark side. There he brought the ship to a halt and slowly descended into the lunar night, but he did not actually land the ship, instead he hovered a few thousand feet above the surface and stopped.

  “Wot whilst we do now? Go and walk on the moon?” Ellyn asked from behind Matt.

  “No, the moon is smaller than Earth and has no atmosphere,” he answered, then turned slightly to see the frown on the face of Æthelgifu.

  “The moon has no air.”

  “Na air!” Alfred exclaimed, and Wulfhere and Ealhswith fidgeted in their seats.

  “Why would ye bring us to such a place,” he asked gazing through the windows at the bleak terrain. He could see no living things; no trees, no bushes, no grass, no animals of any kind. The land was dead.

  “We’ll be perfectly safe inside the ship,” Peebles explained and unbuckled his harness, the others followed suit, thankful for the time to stand. “I brought you here to show you that all we have told you is true. You must trust us...trust us completely if we are to succeed in the end.

  “And yor plan truly....”

  The General nodded. “Just as we told you, to teach you and your sons and grandsons everything Mankind has learned over the years, so that they may go to the moon; so that they may be ready. Inside our computers we hold all the accumulated knowledge of Mankind...and of the Skawps. It’s yours to learn...all of it.”

  ‘Wot must these men know?’ Alfred thought wildly and suddenly felt like an ignorant Pict from the northern countries. He studied the General with awe, understanding for the first time the enormity of the gift they offered.

  “Proceeding forward,” Matt reported and the ship began to slowly move, though at a very slow pace, both Ellyn and Flæd remained in their seats despite the slow movements.

  “How long before Earth rise?”

  Thane looked down at the monitor. “According to the computer, within the next ten minutes.” He punched a few buttons and reset the timer, then confirmed their position against the detailed maps of the moon. The computer did this all in seconds and a countdown appeared, starting at 8:51. The ship continued slowly forward, all eyes on the dark terrain below, and then suddenly they crossed the line where the night became day. When the counter reached twenty seconds, Matt switched it to audible, and a generic female voice began to count off the seconds.

  “This is why I brought you here...to see this,” Peebles said as the final four seconds ticked off. At first they saw nothing, but then slowly a bright, blue ball appeared on the horizon, brilliant against the black, starry night. They all watched silently as it climbed into the sky. It was not a full Earth, only about three quarters of the globe was visible, but it was beautiful, like some rare, sparkling jewel in the sky. General Peebles looked down at the Lady Flæd, who was crying noiselessly, eyes still intent on the scene before them. Finally she felt his eyes on her and looked at him, and laughed through her tears.

  “I canna’ speak,” she whispered, and he nodded to her. They were all speechless, every last one of them.

  “That is our home,” Peebles said dramatically.

  “Home,” Matt echoed through the intercom, and the realization struck him that he was soon to leave it behind, perhaps never to return. It was a sobering thought during an already moving experience. He glanced over at Murphy, who silently stared at his home planet, his face revealing nothing about what was going on inside his head.

  “Tis wondrous,” Sir Wulfhere said from above, and reached his hands out before him as if he could pluck the tiny planet from the sky. “Tis something to remember always...I thank ye. I thank ye,” he said eyes glistening with excitement and wonder.

  “Yah,” Alfred said, equally moved by seeing his home in such a new way, truly he was overcome, as they were all. No one from the ninth century had the background or knowledge in which to deal with this view of their world. They knew little of what was outside even their closest counties, and virtually nothing of what was beyond the borders of Britain. Scotland and Ireland were strange and distant places to them. This was beyond anything they could assimilate easily.

  “I thank ye,” the King of England said truly meaning it, and without hesitation moved forward and took the General’s free arm in his and pumped it vigorously up and down. “I thank ye,” he repeated.

  Matt brought the ship to a halt, and returned it to computer control and then they all got up and moved to the upper level with the others. They would be eating a meal here, with Earth in full view, before heading back to their home.

  “We don’t want your country Alfred,” the General said then slipped his arm around Æthelflæd, who was surprised, but very pleased. “But we do want to save it.”

  “Yah, save it. Tis so small a place,” Alfred answered.

  “You have no idea,” Peebles answered, and his new friend looked at him curiously for a moment, wondering if he was jesting. It came to him immediately that the General was not, and was overcome by the revelation that this man before him was, in fact, like a god…he knew more about the world than Alfred even realized existed. He was a gift to them, and it was a humbling thought.

  “Shall we eat?” Murphy asked, always hungry, and held out an arm to the lovely Giffu. She smiled shyly but took a hold of his arm and he led her up to the kitchens. It would be a simple meal of sandwiches and water.

  “Yes,” Matt agreed. “But first,” he added then without another word he grabbed up Ellyn, who was even lighter in the artificial gravity and kissed her hard and full on the lips. When he was finished he set her back down and smiled at her happy shock.

  “It’s not every woman who can say she was kissed on the moon,” he said by way of explanation.

  “Tis a true thing,” Giffu agreed enthusiastically, and before Murphy could move away or protest, not that he would have, she was in his arms and kissing him with equal fervor.

  “Ye be handsome enough, and I namind stealin’ me own moon kiss,” she said as she released him. She looked over at her sister, Æthelflæd, the lady of Mercia, but she was already in the middle of her own kiss, with the General of the Americans. Giffu laughed when she caught sight of her own mother and father also participating in the ritual, the only person left out was Sir Wulfhere, who was smiling but looking somewhat lonely. Giffu moved to him and Murphy Giles felt a pang of loss.

  “Come, ye should be gettin’ a moon kiss as well,” she told him, and Sir Wulfhere did not argue. He would have welcomed a kiss from the loveliest woman in all of Wessex in a garbage heap.

  Matt watched his commander with surprise and joy. ‘Now he’ll understand,’ Matt thought as the King snatched up his eldest daughter Flæd and gave her a kiss as well. Giffu waited anxiously wondering if her own father had forgiven her yet, and was near to crying when he moved to her, only love in his eyes and kissed her gently on both cheeks.

  “Ye be forgiven daughter,” Alfred whispered, feeling magnanimous here in the heavens.

  “Tis na something me wife twill be needin’ to know,” the Ealdorman said to Ealhswith as she too moved to him and planted several sweet kisses on his bearded cheeks. Suddenly they were all laughing and kissing, Alfred even placed a couple of light kisses on the cheeks of General Peebles.

  People were a strange lot; at times in his old life, Matt found himself despising Mankind one minute for their ugly pettiness, but then he would fall in love with their goodness and genius the next. Humans were a tale of tw
o sides, complex and simple at once, but he knew in his heart that Mankind deserved to continue on, to survive. Maybe it was the times, maybe it was the moon, but at that moment he loved all of humanity. The sudden emotion was so strong that he could not speak or move, then suddenly he knew what he had to do; what he was destined to do. The desire to destroy the Skawps returned stronger than ever, as much to avenge his Cindy, Shelley and little Matt, his old family, as to protect all the new people in his life.

  “Let’s eat, and then go home,” he told Ellyn, still choked with emotion. “We have a mission to prepare for,” he added getting a nod from his co-pilot and a slap on the back from his General.

  They ate happily, with much talking, but finished quickly and returned to their stations, each thankful for the visit, but longing for home. The trip back was even more spectacular than the trip out to the moon. They were all mesmerized by the growing Earth. The small blue and white ball was beautiful beyond all measure and each person aboard deeply longed for the planet and felt a growing need to be a part of it all. On the return trip they chatted and talked excitedly about their adventure, and what their old friends and compatriots back on Earth would say about it. No movie was needed to pass the time for they were all becoming friends. As they moved ever closer, the pull of the earth grew stronger. Everyone wanted to feel the planet beneath their feet, but at the same time no one wanted the voyage to end. As a group, they would never be the same again.

  The ride to Earth was a bit quicker than the trip out, but only by an hour or so. Still no one slept, even though most had been up for more than twenty-four hours. Everyone was getting antsy when they finally fell into the Earth’s atmosphere. The ship’s computers plotted the correct course and trajectory to keep them safe and place them over England. They streaked across the North Atlantic, and over the Lizard, coming in very low over Shaftesbury, then east to Winchester and Maiden Castle. It was ten o’clock the following morning, and though it was raining steadily, there were enormous crowds all around the castle grounds as they shot past overhead, leaving behind another sonic boom in their wake. The crowd below held their ears and then cheered for their King. Sir Wulfhere suddenly shouted for joy, unbelievably happy to be home again. The rest of the passengers were cheering just as loudly. Matt banked and flew almost to the southern coast before turning and making a slow approach from the south. He circled over Winchester for a long while, searching for a safe place to land and marveling at the crowds below. Finally, a group of soldiers and knights forced the people out of the field north of town so they could land. On their descent, Matt caught sight of Colonel Lemay, looking relieved and happy. He also saw Dr. Rice, as well as Sir Oldalf, Merwinna and the plump Ealdorman Æthelnoth holding little Eve, all waiting in the crowd. They touched down to a symphony of cheers that swelled louder and louder.